Different This Time Around
by Josette Mynx
Summary: Mugen finds himself back at the beach where Mukuro almost killed him. As the time passes, he remembers his companions, one pink one in particular. Rated T for Mugen's language.


Ive decided to write a few Mugen and Fuu one shots to get back in the groove of things. I want to go back to my multiple chapter story for them but I have just lost my passion for it, so I am doing these in an attempt to get myself back in the mood. Here is the first. Hopefully you will see more.

Once again, I own nothing but this story.

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><p>He doesn't really know how he has found himself here. Sure, his feet had been leading him here ever since the moment they separated, but he sure doesn't know what the hell for. The sand beneath his geta is a pain in the ass; he has to fight with his shoes to walk in it, even with years of experience.<p>

He remembered when they had first arrived here. Fuu had immediately kicked off her sandals and hiked up her kimono, running into the salt water. It was another one of those moments that was a reminder of how truly fucking innocent the girly was.

Mugen grimaced, steel eyes gazing over the horizon. He didn't want to think about them. About her.

"That bitch"

The sun would be setting soon, within the hour. His eyes gazed over at the small village that Mukuro had taken over. It was still abandoned, now even more so without all of the damn pirates hanging around. The only people that would venture here now would probably be officials checking the place over for the stolen goods, and stray pirates hearing the news of Mukuro's death and scavenging what the bastard left behind.

In between the rows of houses he could have sworn he saw a flash of pink, but he knew it was bull shit. Gone almost as soon as he had seen it. It wouldn't be the first time he had imagined her. Pink was like a plague on his mind.

He returned his eyes to the ocean, looking over the space in the water where he had lost his life for the first time during their journey. The fire, the explosion. Sinking to his death and being greeted by the crow men, only for them to fucking throw him back

Apparently it was never his time.

His life in the past few months had been as it was before their journey. He traveled on his own, stealing money when it was necessary. Food, drink… women. But he was bored now; he had never been bored before. He was lonely. He had never been lonely in all of his life. People had always been an unnecessary burden. And they were, weren't they? Fuu had been a fucking pain in the ass. Hell, she was always being kidnapped and he was always having to save her scrawny ass.

But that was what it was, wasn't it? The adrenalin rush that he got from it. And it wasn't just rescuing her. It was the rush he got when they argued, when they ran out on a bill. Laughing their asses off. It was the rush he got when she took care of his wounds and mended his torn clothing. No one had ever taken care of him before.

Out of the corner of his eye there was another flash of pink and he swore. He was sick of it. He hated being reminded of her all the damn time.

But then there was a clash of metal on metal, and an all too familiar scream.

He whipped his head around so fast he swore he heard it pop, and in an instant he was running full speed towards the village. It was too ingrained, he decided. He wasn't her body guard anymore, but it didn't really matter.

The sounds were getting louder as he neared. Feet hitting the ground as men charged out of homes, chasing a flash of pink. He recognized faces. Men that he had once traveled with in his time with Mukuro. He didn't know their names. He probably never had.

"Vultures." Mugen ground out picking up speed. Men who would do anything for money.

He quickly slid between two houses, a space too small for people to run through with more than one person. That flash of pink rounded the corner and in a second he had grabbed her by collar of her kimono and was pulling her down the small space, with his other hand over her mouth.

It was awkward, having her shoved up against him, but the men rushed passed them and down road.

She was breathing hard and shaking. When her big brown eyes finally looked up at him they grew wide and a few tears slipped down her cheeks and on to his hand, which was still covering her mouth.

She made to say his name, he could feel her lips against his hands and he held his finger up to his mouth silencing her. They weren't out of the clear yet.

Without another word he yanked her along and back to the empty beach and the cliffs. They would be safe there for the night.

It didn't take too long to find a cave big enough for the both of them to sit, but small enough so that it would go unnoticed. He finally turned to look at her again, giving her the chance to speak.

"Mugen!" Fuu had jumped him, and he was pressed up against the wall of the cave, her entire body in his lap. In his surprise he didn't catch himself moving to wrap his arms around her to return the hug, and the moment he touched her he knew he would regret it.

"Eh! Bitch get off me! I don't do mushy crap!" he snapped, yanking his arms away. He had meant for it to come out harsher than it did, but it sounded pretty half assed. "What the hell are you doing here girly? You just askin' to get kidnapped? A place like this isn't safe for a scrawny chick like you."

She pulled away blushing. Though she did thunk him on the head for calling her a bitch.

"I don't really know. I have kinda been stopping at all the places that I thought were important on our journey, and this is the second place I've stopped…" she trailed off looking away, the sun was setting now.

"Keh. Stupid sentimental crap. What was the first place?" Mugen asked, attempting to pretend he didn't care. He picked at his ear and looked out over the sunset and the ocean. It wasn't a half bad picture. One would never have known that everything had been blown to shit.

"That village we were staying in when we thought Jin had been killed, and the one where Sara almost kil…" she paused looking up at him. "Where you and Sara fought."

Mugen nodded. She was right though. Sara had almost killed him. And she would have if Fuu hadn't been an idiot and laid herself out on him. Could have gotten herself killed. He frowned at the memory. He didn't like Fuu protecting him. It wasn't her job.

"So what 'er ya doing here?" Mugen shifted, his legs and angled his body so it was easier to look outside, and away from her.

"This is place where I cried the most… well other than at the island." He could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye. It was forced, her knew her well enough to know that. Her eyes looked sad, like they had looked the night before the island.

"I thought that was where that kid got killed for stealing and kidnapping you." Mugen said glancing over at her, narrowing his eyes. He knew she had had a crush on the punk. Even if she had only spent a few hours with him. He and Jin were walking on eggshells for a few days after all that crap went down. Looked like she was ready to break any minute, and then for some reason she just got over it. One morning she was giggly and singing, playing with that rat. Nothing was said, they just walked on like nothing had even happened at all.

The look on her face grew sadder, but only for an instant, then she shook her head. "I didn't know him that long. I was sad, but not as sad as I was here." She looked him in the eye slowly, he knew that she didn't really feel comfortable talking to him like this, she was probably only doing it because anything was better than sitting in fucking silence all night long. He wasn't Jin, he couldn't handle that shit.

"For a full night and half a day I thought you were dead. The explosion….. it looked so bad" She blushed slightly and looked away, almost like she was embarrassed with the fact that she had for an instant lost hope in him. He couldn't blame her though.

"Even I thought I was dead girly."

She nodded slowly, still looking away. In fact looking anywhere but at him.

Mugen groaned and put his hand over his forehead and let it rub down his face across prickly stubble. Shit. He couldn't believe he was about to say this. He was looking for a way to word this so he didn't sound so damn obvious or desperate. He figured it wouldn't work, he was never any good with words.

"Girly, you're gonna need a body guard if you plan on getting yer' ass in trouble like this all the time. Shit, you would a' been killed if I hadn' ta been there." He growled out the last sentence, he was angry that she so easily put herself in harm's way. She was a walking magnet for trouble, even more so than he was. And he could handle his own shit; she didn't stand a chance.

Fuu looked up at him slowly, recognition crossing her face. She got what he was saying without it having to be said, he would have the thank the little bitch for that later. A bright smile spread across her face. "Yeah, and I wouldn't mind the company. Even if you are a jerk." She punched him in the shoulder lightly.

A grin spread across his face and he reached over and messed up her hair, knocking the two chopsticks out of place along with almost half of her hair.

"Hey!" She squealed and tackled him, or at least tried to in the small cave.

They struggled with each other for a bit, him letting her get out of his grip every once in a while, and her thumping him with her little tiny fists where ever she could reach. They didn't hurt, and hell, with how much she was giggling he knew that they weren't meant to.

When he finally let his eyes meet hers, everything grew still and he just stared at her. He knew he would go to hell for this, if not for everything else he had done in his life. He raised his callused hand and rested it on her cheek, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He knew he shouldn't have done it, it wasn't his place, and he regretted it the instant her eyes grew wide in shock.

He was about to frown when the girly leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. He sighed, admitting defeat. And she opened her eyes to look up at him oddly. Mugen just replied by shaking his head and bringing her face to his chest, where she just snuggled into him, accepting his warmth. He slowly stared up at the rocky ceiling.

"Little bitch." He mumbled, but this time instead of smacking him he heard her release a small giggle.

Things were sure as hell going to be different this time around...

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><p>Please review! I would love to know what you think! If you see any spelling errors or words missing that I have missed please let me know so that I can fix it immediately.<p> 


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